Larry Weidel argues your best cofounder is often your opposite, someone who fills your gaps while sharing your vision and intensity. He shares how his partner Joe Covington complemented his weaknesses, and covers equity splits, vesting, and why skin in the game matters more than perfect alignment.
Foreign to start a new business, are you going to do it by yourself or do you have a co founder? Do you need a co founder? Well, the wrong co founder will wreck your business. And the right one, well, they can take you to the moon. This isn't about friendship or flattery, it's about fit. You need someone who fills your gap, sees your vision. It is ready to fight. Not just work, fight alongside you. They've got to believe in the mission. They got to believe in the opportunity. They got to believe in the, in the product and the service. If you want to build a million dollar business, your co founder can't just help. They've got to deliver. They got to take it personally. They got to have skin in the game. They got sweat equity. They got to be willing to go above and beyond just like you without you having demonstration. Tell them that. I mean, you got to see they've got that intensity about wanting to do that. They've got to help you win, not drag you down. So let's talk about how to find the one that will help you do that. Hey, welcome back to Big Hitters. I'm Larry Wydell and today we're talking about one of the biggest and most dangerous decisions you'll make as an entrepreneur. Choosing a co founder. You look at the great duos, Jobs, Wozniak with Apple, Gabriel Gates and Allen with Microsoft. That's not luck, that's alignment. The main thing is to get you started and get through the big important stages. I know when I moved up to North Carolina, started an expansion operation, recruited a lot of people, got a few key people underneath me, some key full time people. We had some growth and everything. But one day somebody came along and his personality was completely different than mine. His name was Joe Covington. And you know, I was detail oriented. I was, you know, I came out of Georgia Tech, I had the engineering background, I built a hundred houses in four years. So I knew the P's and Q's. I knew how you went through the steps, I know how you stayed on track. But Joe was like pure adrenaline and he was lightning and he could go in and make everything. You know, everywhere he went, people got on fire and said together we were an unbelievable duo. And unfortunately, Joe was the kind of guy who burned himself out very quick. But we stayed together for three years and during that three years it was just magic. Everywhere we go, everywhere we went, it was just like a magic show. We found Joe about three months into the year. The next year we wound up recruiting 1800 people. Then we wound up recruiting 7200 and then 20 something thousand, no, 15,000. It added up to about 23, 24,000 in three years. And one reason I think Joe went down the road is the company made some changes in there that slowed our growth down. And once we stopped having the ability to have exponential growth, we settled down for the long haul. Joe, his mind just went off and we didn't continue on. But during those three years, it was magic. You can have a life changing experience when you get that other person who can complete. You can multiply whatever benefits you have, whatever abilities you have, they can multiply those things. So what can you look for in a co founder? You look for muscle where you're weak. That's it. You look for someone who, you know, if you're great in operations, you're someone who thrives in the trenches, systems, processes, education. You're going to need somebody who's great in marketing. So you can't grow without revenue. You got to find yourself a closer. Somebody can get people excited about what you're doing. So don't just look for skill, also look for fire. Look for somebody who wants to win as bad as you do. And you structure, you know, you think about, okay, I've got that person. How are we going to set this thing up? You don't have to do 50, 50 split just because it feels fair. That's what amateurs do, you know, think about this. Factor in risk, investment, contribution. Maybe you've already taken this thing and gotten it down the road a little bit. Maybe you've put in a bunch of your money or maybe they'll come in and they'll put in a bunch of their money. You want commitment, make it. Earn as you go. You get vested over 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, and again, don't be afraid to adjust as the business grows. This is business, this is not friendship. Flexibility, you know, you need to reevaluate periodically flexibility. And you need to have the agreement right from the beginning. We're going to be flexible. You know, it's not a matter of, you know, what we started with. It's like what's fair now? And you got to be flexible to be able to make those adjustments. When your business is on the line and your thing to remember your co founder, making those things work is always going to take some finagling. It's like a marriage going to take some adjustments and some, you're going to go through a lot of tough times together. But the thing is, can you make each other better. Can you make magic together? That's what you're looking for. You're looking for somebody you can make magic with in business. And so it's worth all of the effort. And your co founder is your ride or die. You don't rush this, you don't settle, you don't assume it'll all work out. Check them out, align with them. This is your million dollar shot. And don't share it with the wrong person. Well, if this fired you up, subscribe, share it and keep building your dream team. I'm Larry Wydell, this is big hitters and let's go win.
